New decat pipes/cones
Discussion
Morning all, I've just received a pair of proper decat pipes to replace my hollowed out cats to see if it changes the sound etc, just a bit disappointed in the welding and finish (I.e. surface rust on main ring) and thought I'd ask your opinion before fitting them.
99% chance I'm being overly picky but for the cost of 2 stainless cones I was a bit let down by the quality- I think the welding although poor is airtight but wasn't sure about seeing rust on what I assumed would be a decent grade of stainless?
99% chance I'm being overly picky but for the cost of 2 stainless cones I was a bit let down by the quality- I think the welding although poor is airtight but wasn't sure about seeing rust on what I assumed would be a decent grade of stainless?
Look on the rough side to me. Rust on stainless can be contamination from other materials, ferrous, in the shop of from cleaning with a steel brush rather than a stainless one. The welding looks cold to me, a lack of skill IMHO where the dissimilar thicknesses have puzzled the operative hence you have pigeon droppings.
Shame as there are no winners here, the person who made them hasn't succeeded, the seller has incurred a cost due to not checking (or caring), you have hassle and some of the earths resources have been wasted.
j
Shame as there are no winners here, the person who made them hasn't succeeded, the seller has incurred a cost due to not checking (or caring), you have hassle and some of the earths resources have been wasted.
j
You could but the ring is at risk of distortion and also any impurities will be in the mix, if you look you can see the start of each "run" as a splatter zone and also some contamination in the gap between pigeon dropping and cone on the rest of the weld. The problem with MIG welding stainless is the liner needs to be fresh or the machine just used for stainless other wise all the copper and steel that has been deposited will finish up on the filler wire and in the weld, so rule number one is be clean. Secondly the power and feed need to be just right.
I would TIG this from the start and just tack weld it without using a filler. Not sure how much lap there is between cone and ring but it could be that no filler is needed as you may be able to fuse the edge of the ring onto the cone but IMHO these welds always look a bit shallow so a filling rod of the right alloy, or over alloyed, will allow you to get the pretty pattern everyone wants.
Not sure what these are made from, 304 me guesses but someone may cheat and take the ring from 303 as its easy to machine but it isn't welding grade... not that I haven't. Sure someone will be along soon to educate us. Till then plenty of welding tutorials on YT. Esab and Lincoln have some good tech reading if you're bored.
J
I would TIG this from the start and just tack weld it without using a filler. Not sure how much lap there is between cone and ring but it could be that no filler is needed as you may be able to fuse the edge of the ring onto the cone but IMHO these welds always look a bit shallow so a filling rod of the right alloy, or over alloyed, will allow you to get the pretty pattern everyone wants.
Not sure what these are made from, 304 me guesses but someone may cheat and take the ring from 303 as its easy to machine but it isn't welding grade... not that I haven't. Sure someone will be along soon to educate us. Till then plenty of welding tutorials on YT. Esab and Lincoln have some good tech reading if you're bored.
J
I'm not going to claim to be the best but I can tig confidently, tempted to go over the areas which look dodgy but don't want to open a can of worms with distortion or finding some contamination in there which I can't clean!
For £300 it just seems disappointing compared to the amount of beautifully made tig welded items you buy for half the amount! Definitely looks like it was given to an apprentice to weld who had a dirty glass and not enough heat.
My knowledge of grades is lacking but the ring appears to be a "cheap" stainless which is showing surface rust, I must confess I dont understand how any grade of stainless (by definition) can be allowed to rust!
For £300 it just seems disappointing compared to the amount of beautifully made tig welded items you buy for half the amount! Definitely looks like it was given to an apprentice to weld who had a dirty glass and not enough heat.
My knowledge of grades is lacking but the ring appears to be a "cheap" stainless which is showing surface rust, I must confess I dont understand how any grade of stainless (by definition) can be allowed to rust!
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